A parent's guide to dyslexia

We look at the signs that suggest dyslexia at pre-school, primary school and aged 12 or over.

Parents are key when it comes to spotting dyslexia in their children. The condition is usually present from birth, and 1 in 10 children affected.

Early diagnosis means that children can receive the special help they need to overcome the condition.

We look at the signs that suggest dyslexia at pre-school, primary school and aged 12 or over.

More than just words

Despite dyslexia being more widely understood today than it was in the classrooms of the past, many children are still going undiagnosed, meaning they miss out on the crucial help and support they need.

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Around 4 per cent of the population are thought to be severely affected by dyslexia, with a further 6 per cent having mild to moderate symptoms.

Put simply, dyslexia is a condition where the brain has difficulty interpreting information, which can present as difficulties with reading, writing and sequencing. While the majority of people are born with it, it can occasionally be caused by a trauma such as meningitis.

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The important thing to remember is that dyslexia can affect people in different ways. Some dyslexics are good readers, while others are great at maths. It can also affect other areas such as short-term memory, organisational skills, time management and finding your way around geographically.

'Some children with dyslexia get to university without it ever being detected. But once there, they find the workload and different skills required for study hard to cope with.'

But spotting the signs early can make a world of difference.

'All the research shows that early diagnosis and support can help compensate children who are dyslexic, meaning they're not affected to such an extent,' adds Katrina Cochrane.

How can parents help?

The first thing parents should be aware of is that dyslexia often runs in families. Recent research has identified a number of genes that are thought to be responsible for the condition.

'What we say is that if there is dyslexia in the family and you think you have spotted some tell-tale sign in your child, the chances are that they have the condition,' says Katrina Cochrane.

Parents can also help in spotting potential problems that may escape teachers.

It's important to remember not all nursery, primary or secondary school teachers are trained to spot dyslexia. Moreover, some children simply learn strategies to cope or hide dyslexia, such a developing a good memory.

So what should you look out for?

Pre-school children

The important thing is for parents of pre-school children not to worry excessively and to remember all children develop at different rates.

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'You can't reliably identify dyslexia until a child is seven,' says James Gallagher, head of marketing and communications at Dyslexia Action.

'Children really need to be reading for it to be picked up.'

Some signs, however, may include difficulties with sequencing, such as letters of the alphabet, days of the week or months of the year.

Other clues may include the child never crawling (even if they walk early), difficulties with activities such as catching a ball, clapping along to a rhythm or tying the laces of their shoes.

'Nursery rhymes are one thing to keep an eye out for,' says Katrina Cochrane.

'Many children with dyslexia never pick them up.'

Primary school children

Primary school children with dyslexia may show difficulties with reading and writing. They may be slow at writing, put letters and numbers the wrong way round, confuse letters such as 'b' and 'd' and show a lack of interest or concentration.

'Parents tend to notice something when they're reading with their child and the child does things such as read 'saw' as 'was' or write 'bird' as 'brid' and they won't recognise they've done it,' says James Gallagher.

Other signs can include confusing left with right and difficulties with short-term memory.

'Children may have difficulty remembering things over the short term,' says Katrina Cochrane. 'For example, you may ask them to go upstairs and pick three things up from their room, and they come back down and say 'sorry I’ve forgotten what you asked me to do'.'

'Sequencing skills can also be a problem, such as remembering telephone numbers or difficulty with sentences – which are sequences with a beginning, middle and end. For example they might not know how to end a sentence.'

Aged 12 and over

By the time a child has reached secondary school, dyslexia can be much harder to spot. By this age many children will have learnt coping strategies or ways of compensating.

'The key is to look for a discrepancy between ability and attainment, such as having a fantastic vocabulary but not being able to put thoughts down on paper,' says James Gallagher.

'Perhaps a child is bright, but there's a disconnection between that and what they achieve. In boys particularly it can present as bad behaviour because of their frustration.'

Other things to watch for are running out of time in exams, quality of written work not matching up to ability, bizarre spelling, spelling words wrongly and the same word spelt differently in the same piece of work.

Where to go for help

Speak to your child’s classroom teacher or a SENCO (special education needs co-ordinator) if the school has one. Dyslexia Action (www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk) also has a helpline and offer a free half-hour consultation at their centres.

Although there's no cure for dyslexia, there is a lot of help available. With structured and appropriate learning dyslexic children can happily succeed.

Famous people with dyslexia

He may have been famous for his impassioned speeches, but who knew that Winston Churchill struggled at school due to dyslexia?

For proof that dyslexia needn't hold you back just take a look at the list of people who have succeeded – from Albert Einstein to Jamie Oliver, Robbie Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Cruise, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightly and Virgin boss Richard Branson.

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